Orientalism in America

Orientalism is a topic that has been gaining more traction in our political discourse and public sphere, but it seems that most have not yet eased into facing it head-on. Admittedly, I've been subject to this myself as well. When I first was faced with the fact that some of my favorite films (namely Mulan and Aladdin) had orientalist overtones about them, I was taken aback. Somehow, my immediate reaction (as someone who, being white, is on the benefiting side of Orientalism) was one of disbelief--"What? No way! But Mulan was my favorite movie growing up!"

Here's a thought: Respecting the lives and cultures of Asian and Middle Eastern people is more important than feeding the American entertainment industry.

As much as I agree with this simple and logical statement, my knee-jerk attitude did not reflect this ("Lawrence of Arabia, too? But that won an Academy Award!"). Many people probably react the same way when they're faced with the truths of our often harsh and uneducated portrayals of non-Western cultures. We've become so attached to our movies and TV shows that we become blind to the unfair portrayals that we see in them so often. It's as though our television screens are more real to us than the diverse cultures and people in them. In order to combat this, it's imperative that we maintain a critical eye when consuming any media, even that which we're particularly fond of.

After all, media portrayals have strong consequences in the real world as well. Countless studies have reinforced this point--media portrayals have the power to make us feel confident and represented or, in many cases, the opposite. In the case of Orientalism, Eastern countries are portrayed as places of mysticism, ancientness, and uh-oh! No white people to relate to! By showing these places as "unknowable" and mysterious, we create a divide that discourages us from empathizing with Asian and Middle Eastern people and promote a false idea that the East is somehow "behind" Western countries, simply because their modern cities aren't portrayed as often (see Dubai, Seoul, Shanghai, or pretty much any other major Eastern city for modernity that's on par with or better than ours).

You're still allowed to enjoy films like Aladdin and Indiana Jones and, I dunno, Eat, Pray, Love? Just take into consideration how their portrayals of the East may be inaccurate, and don't defend them blindly. And, of course, be empathetic.